Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Today I celebrate my own personal New Year as the first day after my birthday… I vowed to rest yesterday but this material churned up inside, so I share.

Couple days ago, I found myself saying "I’m celebrating wisdom and new beginnings, without adding years."

I had been wished Happy Birthday and I really wanted to respond with "shhh, I'm pretending it’s not happening" because – truth be told – there comes a time when we really want to pretend the years are simply not adding up. But despite my instinct to seriously say "shh," something deep inside responded to that thought as though saying back at me “no, that isn’t right.” And that's when I realized, while part of me really wants the whole birthday thing to "just go away," there is something else far more important – and that is about honoring my birthday for wisdom and new beginnings.

I don't like the idea of aging, yet it's true that in time, age deserves huge recognition, it deserves to be honored for the time that has passed and the wisdom that has grown – as the wise one inside – like the phoenix rising – deserves recognition, hands down! Wisdom, after all, holds enormous wealth as a most valuable asset that simply cannot be bought – it only must rise, over time.

So while I dislike the idea of getting older, on the other side of the same dreaded coin is another quite different emotion… I love knowing each year brings me deeper into the woman I am, as I come forth with more presence and the younger version sits back to listen. From this, I am knowing, my own personal New Year brings cause for huge celebration, as evidence that time has prevailed and wisdom persists.

While

I wanted to pretend it just wasn’t happening – my heart screamed forth loudly, “Honor your wisdom, be grateful for the years, the mistakes you have learned from – and be happy you have made it this far!” And so I gain new footing.

I realize I would not want the years to stand still. Sure I'd love to look better as when I was younger with a few less wrinkles, gray hair or extra pounds, but I know far more important than looks, I am profoundly grateful for the richness I have gained through the passage of time. If the price tag for getting this was to age a bit in the process, then I am much happier to be more like a bottle of deep red wine who’s every drop is greatly savored, than I would want to be anything else!

I celebrate wisdom and new birth as I remember this March 30th to give thanks for the miraculous feat it has been to get me this far in this world at this time – as I know, every turn of the path, every trial and tribulation has been miraculous – as though I’ve been carried by an army of spirit, to grow forth from inside, the woman who’s wisdom is rising.

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

I share this story as an example... for the amazing precision of timing and the beautifully interwoven nature of our lives, where the slightest change in a moment can make a big difference...

I was in the grocery store the other day when this funny thing happened. I wasn't buying a lot, so when the lines were full, I opted for the express lane. While I was loading the conveyor belt, a few ladies stepped up behind me with one or two items in their hands and a rushed feeling about them. I felt pressured by their rush, so even though I was already up to the checker, I started moving my things back and encouraged them to step ahead of me in line. They tried saying no, but I insisted because I wanted to take my time. Finally they agreed to go ahead of me, and I was relieved to continue at my own pace.

Well, I was still sorting out my groceries when I noticed the ladies having some trouble at the register as I immediately realized they were foreign visitors and a bit unfamiliar with our system. The checker was asking them to enter a phone number into the box and while they were trying to do so, it was clear this was puzzling and cumbersome. So my instinct was to help and I quickly offered to punch in my own phone number to move them along to finish the process... And then came the great surprise... when the checker said "oh yes, you saved a lot" at which point we all looked a bit shocked...

It turned out they saved over $20 on their purchase - in the express lane no less - from the store discounts they got by me punching in my phone number real quick on their behalf.

The ladies were quite surprised and immediately one of the women turned to me and said "and that would not have happened if you hadn't pushed us to goaheadof you in the line"... to which I quickly responded with a smile "that is exactly what I just thought too!"

We all laughed with the fun of the moment's surprise as we each immediately "got it"... Had the sequence of events not occurred exactly as they did, these women would have spent $20 more for their small bit of groceries! We all smiled and laughed with a "thank you" for the wonder of synchronicity, as we shook our heads in amazement knowing that my persistence ended up making a big difference.

What's it all mean?So this stuff happens all the time... sometimes we know and other times we don't. What happens when it's much bigger things, what happens when we honor our gut feelings and listen much more? When its more significant? Isn't that happening all the time too? Perhaps it's words shared in a conversation that plant a seed and later serve as the tiniest morsel that ends up saving someone's life? Or maybe it's acting on a feeling that makes absolutely no sense logically but just feels right - and it is!? What happens when its the breakthrough of a lifetime, because we get exactly what we need to move a "boulder up a mountain" and make the world a better place - because we listened to a hunch? What happens when it simply causes you to meet a new friend or find a new relationship that later makes your whole life different in the end?

What happens when we listen every time to the gut feeling that always knows?

What we do in every moment makes a world of difference. The turns we make on a street, the people we smile with, the words that come out. The literal movements of our every day and every moment - including the talking we do online... all these things, make a real difference - and sometimes very big.

It took a very long time in this life for me to feel, hear, believe and/or listen to my gut feelings. It used to be I literally had no idea what that was - and thankfully, that changed. Over time, I grew into the person I suspect I always was (but didn't know)... with rock solid gut feelings, and senses that can literally reach around the globe. Yet even with this core strength today, there are still times when I can be like a defiant teenager - and I don't listen to what I know in a moment's notice. Just simple things, like turn here or walk that way... as I quickly see the reason for the nudge and feel a big "I told ya so" as I say to myself "just listen, woulda?!"

So I share this funny story as example because it can be so simple. Just listen to the hunch, the nudge, the gut feeling, because it always knows... and because, "what if?" ~ What happens if we don't listen? What happens when we choose to ignore a gut feeling or intuition? How much are we limiting our outcomes? We'll never really know... so my answer is - aim to listen.

Get to know what you feel in "your knowing" and live by that tune... Tune into your gut and find out what's there, then share what you know, even when it doesn't make any sense in your head... just see what happens when you listen to the moment speaking to you - to make a certain move, say a certain word, or do something just because it feels right not because it makes sense. Time and experience will show that listening to "that feeling" manages to always be right!

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

I met an amazing man a few years back - Max was his name. He inspired me beyond words just by his way of being and his very humble gift with gratitude.

I remembered Max just now, as I looked into my half eaten bowl of soup and realized I forgot to say Thank You! And that took me back to the moment when Max shared his story - when I could see with my eyes, clear as day, the pathway of gold we all can create, when we simply say Thank YOU!

Such a simple little thing... just say Thank You... and say it all the time... for everything!

You see, Max shared with me that day, that he did this all the time, constantly ("by the thousands" I noted). He said, "Thank You" was just always there in his head, no one told him to do it, it's just what would happen, and in fact, until he was telling me this story, he didn't even realize how much he did do it - that in fact he literally probably said "thank you" a thousand times each day, no kidding! (and by the way, he never worried about anything... his life just sorta "happened" for him with great success!)

And as if this all wasn't enough to rock me... the way bigger magic that day was that as Max talked, I could see... I could literally see a golden path he was creating as he continued to give thanks every moment! As Max talked of his habit - I saw the golden path that was being created with each of his words!

I couldn't believe the power of that moment - the enormous light that was bursting from the bubble of our talk - as I was literally seeing a the path of gold that he was creating by constantly saying "thank you."

I was astonished with the visual... it was so clear and obvious... and such evidence for my deeper knowing.

In that moment, I saw with my own eyes and knew without doubt that it's true, the whole universe of everything - God, the angels, our ancestors, the trees, plants, birds, bees, on and on and on... to everything - they are all really truly absolutely "in cahoots" with us... to create a magnificent world - inside and out - in every moment, in every way possibly imagined!

And...When we"give thanks" it is a HUGE piece of the puzzle... Because in our thanks we are saying back to them "YES!"- "I got it, the gift you just sent in the nice meal, a smile, glimmer of sunshine, yes, thank you, I like it, it's right - thank you and I'd love to have more!" And with that ... more is exactly what we get! Because they LOVE to be acknowledged... the energy that is giving, helping, being there for us all the time, loves to be noticed! Who doesn't love to be loved? It's feedback for goodness sake... everyone - including the spirit all around us - wants and loves positive feedback! Isn't that brilliant?! :)

So it is true - Gratitude Grows Gold...We literally pave a path of gold ahead of us... when we say Thank You, with love, truth and honesty, in respect for the enormous army of love that is supporting our each and every moment! Literally every move, every moment, everystep of the way!

So today I say ~ Thank you for the greatness of this moment, for the sun shining brightly, for the peace I can experience, for the food and shelter, warm clothes, body able to move, clean water, shower at my disposal, legs able to walk, wonderful friends... so much more, and for the amazing people that constantly show up in my world to show me always something new and great!

Monday, March 16, 2009

This is my back woods Alaskan Adviser...Lynn Twigg. His motto that he likes to remind me every so often is: "I always remember to keep my mouth shut and seem a fool... rather than open it, and remove all doubt" recounted every time with a chuckle and a glint in his eye.

In truth, Twigg as he's known, is an 86-year-old very smart trapper, woodsman and pilot who plays a wicked piano for brilliant spontaneous music, and is really quite famous in these parts for his bush plane antics saving many a life over the years since he came to Alaska when it was still just a Territory back in the 1950's.

He's got one adventure after another to share... and whenever he comes and asks me what I'm writing... we get into some pretty good conversations about the nature of creativity and change for what he deduces at the end of each conversation "to be simple common sense." And then I remind him, that he is a very unusual person with an enormous gift of impeccable "common sense!" Not only can he tell the entire story of activity in the woods on any given day just by what he sees on the ground, but he can track any animal, knows every foot print, has walked away safely from numerous plane and car crashes, flies around one of the world's largest mountains and generally is a person who can survive just about anything in the natural world.

So... I say, "Twigg, you do get it I'm sure, because you are quite the exception to the rule as a person who is tremendously tuned in!" And then I remind him that my writing is for regular people who have probably never dreamed of the exceptional experience he's had in his 86 years... To which every time, he laughs with a grin.

He's always taken by how much I get such a kick outta talking to him... so today I shared that it's just that he is such a "great channel"... that it's like "whatever God needs to say to me, it just starts comin' right out of Twigg's mouth" when he walks in the door!

It is a gift to have people like this around... I don't need much... in fact most of why I'm presently in the back woods of Alaska is because I need quite stillness to write and produce... But I sometimes need a bouncing board... and that is often best when the person can "stay outta the way" and allow "the flow" to spill forth through them... Certain people are really good at this, seems like they "check themselves at the door" when they come to see me, and all that comes out of them in my presence is just pure gold! The perfect reflection I need in that moment... to move things along, get the right clarity, or spark a new idea.

So I am very grateful for this time and space... to be here in this place where I have great friends like Twigg and his dear wife Connie, to nudge me along on my way!

It's all good fun out here in the shadows of Mt.McKinley... where people are people and good instincts are the good fruit that is grown!

Sunday, March 15, 2009

I'm having a moment here... Been working on the new book... during which the whole marketing thing swirls around in my head, as I desperately attempt staying focused... But I keep wandering into wondering how the pieces of the whole are going to fall out in real time, real life!

I have an old background in marketing... communications is really my core. But in the years of my growth and development, I unearthed a deeper knowing and the study of change and creativity became my life's work... So while I've got some healthy know-how in the marketing/communications world, that is coupled with a pretty sensitive know-how for how the creative works, how the energy behind our words and actions actually makes it all happen as the "stuff" that drives everything... and that is what I share nowadays.

Well, being true to my own stuff... skill and deeper knowing has cropped up a new thought on the whole "content marketing" thing... With heaps of internet marketing and heavy sales pitches swarming around... Today I had a refreshing new thought on all this that's far more aligned with me and my own work...

I thought... What IF we just did what is Right?! Hm... seems like the right thing to do... I mean...

What IF we just focused on staying pure and clean in our intentions, our words and our actions... all the way through every step of what we're doing?To share our work - whatever it is - from a knowing that the solidness of "what we stand on" and what we are "selling" is absolutely the very best - it is worthy, it is right and it is good... and it simply deserves to be shared... shared for a reasonable price - but shared, just purely...

Leading me to ask...If we are doing what is pure and right... does it really need a big "sales job?" Like the days of old... when folks held integrity in their word and honesty in what they shared and the absolute expectation on all sides - from buyer to seller - was straight up above board - as the wayto be.

My suspicion is that when someone's product or service really IS the best, really IS something new, helpful and worthy of being purchased... it stands on its own power, its energy speaks volumes... Because truth be known ~ whether we feel it, believe it, know it or not ~ energy is the stuff behind everything. And the energy of the intentions behind any action - any sales job - comes pouring forth, whether the visible words and actions match the intention, or not!

So I reach a knowing... my job as the keeper of what I share - just as is true for each of us in whatever we share - is to not be swayed by the competition... To not start thinking I need to schlep my stuff around because that's what everyone else is doing. But instead, to consider... what if I just know the power of what I share and simply stand by that with integrity, trust my knowing that it really IS what's right... and let IT speak for itself?!

Hm....

Perhaps the test for us all to find our truth and integrity would be to ask... "If I feel I need to do a big sales pitch for whatever I'm doing... is it really the right thing to be doing?!"

If in asking that I find I DO stand by what I'm doing - down to my core - then does it really need the big sales pitch? Maybe instead, it simply needs me to open the sharing - and let "my stuff" speak for itself. Perhaps its energy is rich enough because it is right and good - and it really just needs me to "open the door"... instead of falling in line with the crowd and doing a bunch of heavy lifting...

So I settle as I see that perhaps instead of worrying about the process for all this - I need to just honor the integrity of what wants to be said, written, shared, empowered and promoted through me - and trust IT to allow IT to be known - without worrying over a big sales job...

Translated for us all, I say what if each of us were to simply find and allow what is waiting inside - the passion that is your job to share with the world - and let that come forth as the great living gold that it is?! Wouldn't that be much easier?

People feel what is right... it cuts to the core whether consciously realized or not - it is felt, recognized and known... When we are strong, when we are present and when we have something good to say - people feel it before anything is said. And they're waitingto hear what comes out, before we or they even know it!

When we hear, see, feel integrity without a word, we recognize it!

I dare to say, maybe we are ready to resurrect the times of old, when a man's word was as good as gold! Perhaps that is my aim with this writing... to help us all, head back to that?!

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

I just had an epiphany… I’m reading this small little book that was written nearly 100 years ago – The Science of Getting Rich – which I find is more about the science of creating – very similar to my own work – than it is really about ‘getting rich.’ That said, I had an interesting epiphany of my own while reading - about the nature of “staying present.”

I realized that when I start getting ahead of myself – as often can happen – I am actually stepping out of the present moment, out of fear… it doesn't feel like fear when it happens for I think that I'm being proactive... but indeed fear it is... Fear that I won’t know "what to do next” when the next step comes, fear that I am behind, fear that I just don’t know enough for how I'm going to "get there"... fears that simply are not true and when acted upon do more for causing a lapse of time without productivity, than contributing to the present creation I’m working on.

I don’t need to step ahead of myself and “make sure” I know what to do next - for “the next” will be far easier and dramatically more efficient, when I allow it to come in its due time! What an amazing thought that would seem SO obvious… yet we ALL do it ALL the time… We’re working on something new and we spend way too much time trying to figure out how to do all the pieces, instead of just taking steps to actually do the pieces!

What I know from my study of the creative process, is that each step needs to be done in its own time… take step one, and when appropriate, step nine will be obvious and will smoothly unveil itself and flow forward at just the right pace, at just the right time with ease – when we are in sync taking it all, one step at a time! The whole nature of creating, is that each step builds upon the others...

Yet, like many of us, while in the midst of doing step one, sometimes my mind will drift forward in time, and start anticipating all the things I will need to do later, or worse, what I will need to know how to do later that I don’t know yet. For me, my clarity of vision is phenomenal however seeing ahead can also be a distraction that moves things much faster than my physical person can handle, creating even more distraction as I wander forward in time and lose my place from the present – and worse, start collecting information, tools and data that I suspect I will need down the road (but don't know for sure) – instead of staying on task to allow what is perfectly aligned and flowing with me in the present, to bring forth the right things at the right time!

More times than not (I suspect I'm not alone here), when I get ahead of myself, I quickly become overwhelmed with “too much information” because not only am I distracting away from what I really need to be focused on at the moment, I am also collecting information that is not ready to be processed through me yet… its not time for that information to be “on my plate” yet - a perfect analogy that makes this crystal clear!

If information were like food on my plate, it would be obvious that when I already have one meal on my plate or processing through my body (i.e., I’m working on step one for instance) there’s obviously no space yet for another meal, no space yet for digesting new information - or the needs of step nine - when my body and system are occupied doing or digesting the needs of step one. When the time is right for later steps and new information, things will flow with ease because there is an open channel, there is digesting space available for new information, there is space for giving my full attention to receive and efficiently process new information.

If I get too far ahead of myself and out of sync with time - out of the present - new information has no place to go, it simply does not have a clear channel to flow through me and that being said, it can create more disruption, havoc, confusion and ultimately overwhelm than if I allowed things to come at the right time, flowing when exactly needed.

And this brings me home to a very real truth that drastically contrasts with the fear that gets me out of whack. And I know this truth... I have witnessed and experienced for so long that my process – the natural process when allowed – is always best when I don’t go looking for anything and instead allow what's right to “show up” in just the right time… When I remember with confidence that what I need literally "lands in my lap” all the time by the shear magnetic nature of my energy, the process itself, the clarity of my vision, and the propelling force of the forward motion I create in the doing... all of these factors bring to bare... that I attract precisely what I need, at just the right time and pace.

Being grounded in this truth, I can pay more attention to catch the old habit of "jumping ahead" if it creeps up and dispel that urge, to instead stay right on task in the present moment, knowing with confidence that the very nature of the process I'm engaging – not to mention my own experience over and over again – is that I attract exactly what I need, when I need it.

When I need to know “how to do the next step” ~ I will know! The right people and information will have shown up at just the right time when I could process the new, and I always have all that I need!

Attracting the right information at the right time is simply nature's truth! Staying present with “the meal that’s on my plate” is my job, and perhaps the best medicine for keeping me on track!

Monday, March 2, 2009

Imagine how much creative energy there is in all the people who are oppressed! How much they hold power, solutions, creative thoughts, ideas and more?! Imagine how much power is held in all the people!

I just posted an article I wrote back in January (see: "The Power of Freedom" in Jan 2009 archive) - and just editing that piece really got me thinking... It's also part of the material I'm writing about in my book... so this is all good germinating!

Creativity flourishes when we are free, nurtured, empowered, embraced and allowed. Creativity is also the fuel that lights every fire... it is the source of all great ideas, inventions, new thinking, processes, new products, services, government solutions... I could go on and on...

Creativity is the heart of everything...

So what happens when we understand it?! What happens when we unleash all that power? All those creative solutions held up in all the people... What happens when we really learn how to get at the heart of creativity?!

This is the heart of what I'm sharing... the very content I'm here to talk about! And so, I am very excited... for as I write, my knowing comes blazing forth... that this is it! I've got to get these words out... I've got to share much more!

I'm still figuring out just how to share it all... but this much I know... there is a river gushing forward in me, for there is vast and profound importance to understanding creativity - It is critical to everything! And so, I am humbled... and determined... to share this content further!

I got out of LA for a much needed break - and funny, the place that I ended up getting to is a tiny little frozen village of about 400 people in a place I once lived in Alaska. When I arrived the first time many years back not knowing a soul, it was dead of winter in 40 below cold - and so this time again, I arrived in deep winter.

Early this year, a funny set of circumstances created a beautiful opening that allowed me the time and space to come here for awhile to create... by the Grace of God (and some great old friends) the trip has been a miraculous gift of freedom to write! And so, I am pulling it out now... with GREAT relief as it feels so good to finally do just that!

Somehow back in LA I just could not muster enough calm that was needed to be quiet long enough, to get this all out of me... So, thank you God, I am here - and it's all unfolding with grace!

Feels like it's been two months that I've been here though it's actually been much less.

It was about the first of January when this New Year started with a bang for me – and I suddenly knew I could not hold on anymore, and I really really really needed to get out of LA for awhile! Not for good... but "please" I thought, “just give me some time and space to quiet”... Within just days of that thought, I was putting my life in order to allow for the shift I sensed would come... then finally the doors swung open and just after our new President was sworn in - perhaps in the vein of new freedom - I was off on a plane to the cold barren north, to the top of the world, to create and produce what had been waiting inside for too long...

Unexpected Twists...Ever so strange as often occurs, I showed up at precisely the right time as, though I may try, the eternal healer in me never ceases... Turns out I arrived to be present for someone's death... and not just one, but two. While showing up almost unannounced as the trip happened so fast, it turns out that Divine Timing was right in line, as I got here within a day of some dear old friends needing support as they struggled to walk through the very painful and unexpected deaths of two very special people... Strange for me indeed, but actually not surprising, for in times like these, I am reminded how much I live by a deep inner "different drummer" that always puts me in the right place at the right time – to be of service to something much bigger, as this great mystery continues, and the journey widens ever deeper.

The experience of death - especially unexpected and quick death - is a powerful thing to witness... I was at a distance in both cases being support to those who were much closer... but in any proximity, death puts in my face the truth of my own sensitivity to feel well beyond the seen and spoken world - reminding me how grateful I am for the ability to see, feel, sense and listen to the presence that guides me ever diligently through the unseen parts of this world.

Back to writing?So a good chunk of my time here was for a reason I could have never known before coming... and now, I am gifted with the grace of time while for the last week or so I’ve been devoted to writing - with some excellent unfolding occurring!

In being true to my own teaching – I must acknowledge that even while being distracted without time to write for a good chunk of my time here, I'd have to say that the whole time I've been here it's all been brewing – as I've slowed down, rested and helped my friends – so that now, the writing spills out with much greater ease!

Fruits of my labor...I am working on a book to encapsulate the work I've developed for many years – about creativity, the process of change and creative problem solving for any arena... the "how to" for empowering the process of change for much greater ease in life, work and all points in between! I wrote a first draft of this book more than two years ago, but it just wasn't quite time and it wasn’t quite ready... And NOW – it IS time and I am ready! So I’ve let go of the old and I'm allowing fresh material to pour forth on the page - as it wants to NOW - appropriate and aligned with the times... and this is all very good!

I'm very excited to share more systematically this work that’s been building for many years... the "artistry" I've developed for approaching life and work from a very different perspective, a very creative perspective, to empower the process of change that is naturally inherent in everything we know ~ to work with the process for endlessly creative solutions!

I hope you will stand by ~ to watch, witness and partake, in this awesome and beautiful unfolding...

About Me

Tid Bits of Gold shares "tid bits" from a life's journey that has taken me around the globe discovering and uncovering the magic that makes us tick! Within this column, I share stories of 'gold' found along the way in regular moments, people and places, that shine a light for us all to remember: gold grows from within. I invite you to browse and enjoy a few stories! For newer works, please visit the newer sites: EmbracingCreative.com and SharonCorsaro.com.

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